I keep a log book for my Mav's. It contains any and all mods/alterations and or maintennance and repairs that I have performed on em. I date it and write in hours spent. Yes, I am a bit anal about it. I sat down the other night to take stock of where my current project is at. I do this at the beginning and end of every spring/summer just to keep ahead of it,and "prepare for the next phase". (Fancy way of saying its' time to spend more money) I, untill now havent added up the hours spent...I did the other night... 5 yrs...640 hours...The majority of it spent on weekends, till recently any how. Figure the standard collision shop/restoration shop labor rate at 100.00 an hour and that would be stupid $$ spent on a maverick if you had to pay someone else to do it...That does not include materials...LOL... I refuse to add up all the receipts...No really...I wont do it. Its finally at the stage where some of the final paint finish is on it. Well, in the engine compartment anyways. The body is ready for paint also. Just have to wet sand, seal and lay some paint on it...(Next summer) Now is where the devils in the details. Still have to clean, prep, paint alot of the little chotchkies and do the front seat upholstery. The list goes on... Soo...A few questions. How many hours do you have in your car? Do you keep track of how long you have slaved over your labor of love? I wont ask about $$ spent...We probably all take a step back when thinking about that figure...LOL... Or am I just that nuts...Afflicted with O.C.D.??? Dedicated??? or what. Can you still call it a simple time passing hobby at this point??? Im' done museing now...
I have had my Comet 20 years now.... once added up reciepts from when I did the motor swap, 1996, to about 5 years after, and freaked a bit. That is, until I estimated purchase price of the car and likely expenses prior to 96, divided it by years, and that number got very reasonable. The car had been my daily driver all that time.
the only thing that keeps me sane about...the money spent...is...I have $20,000 agreed value with Hagerty...if it dies or I die...I'm even...
I logged my receipts into Quicken for the hech of it. It’s not 100% because sometimes I don't get a receipt or I lose them. If I sell a part then that money is added to the deposit field. All I care to say publicly is a dollar here and $30 there adds up fast.
I've had my Maverick since October of 1989. I have actually done this Cleveland swap build twice - once more on the stock side and the second fully modified. I have kept track of all the total hours and costs. The hours are over 1600 total so far and the costs total, I don't want to know
I also do not want to know how much money has gone into the Maverick. And also like to think that whatever I've spent over current value should be amortized over the years and treated as hobby money. I mention that to my wife every now and then. Second rationalization (?) is the restoration keeps me active and is an alternative to a gym membership. And, a lot more fun. Regular trips to the gym would be torture for me. Between those two, I say we're saving money.
Now that's a good way to put it. I figure since I don't throw away fists full of money on drinking or smoking, my vice is the money spent on my car - and my coffee
As for time, do you have to count the bonehead mistakes you made and the time it took to make them right? For dollars, are we talking 1970s dollars or 2012 dollars?
Only one bone headed mistake Barry...Keeping track of the time involved...Aint' my first rodeo. Around here the average rate is 100.00 per hr for collision/paint work.
I used to keep my receipts. I stoped doing that when I added them up in the late 90s and realized I could have bought a new Mustang GT. But if the money was sepent on a Mustang then it would be almost worthless now and probably not have it anymore. So the money was well spent on the maverick. I never thought about tracking hours. That would just make me look crazy if the numbers ever got leaked outside of the car guys that understand.
I did most everything on the cheap, because kids are EXPENSIVE!!! Most of the time was spent wiring since I refused to buy a complete harness or kit but I never tracked it. My wife could probably give you a good estimate though... I did go to the trouble of entering almost every part I could think of in an excel spreadsheet including the source, part number and what system it's in. I didn't want to be stuck out of town and have to figure out or remember what I got that part off of. I might have half of my time on the "bonehead" mistakes too!
